1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to a multi-piece dishrack system for a drawer-type dishwasher.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Racks for supporting items in a dishwasher are well known in the art. Typically, the racks are designed to hold dishware, utensils and other items such as pots, pans and casserole dishes. Towards that end, the racks are generally provided with various support elements that enable a consumer to arrange the dishware in such a manner so as to optimize available space on the rack. As there exists a wide array of dishwashers, racks are typically specially configured to accommodate each dishwasher model. For example, racks for industrial dishwashers are designed to ride along a conveyor belt, racks for conventional dishwashers are designed to be slidingly supported in a tub through rollers or extensible glide rails and racks for drawer-type dishwashers are designed to fit into a drawer.
In drawer-type dishwashers, the drawer or washing chamber is generally slidingly supported in a cabinet and contains or supports many, if not all, wash system components for the drawer. With this arrangement, various components, such as filters, wash arms and pump inlets are arranged in a bottom portion of the drawer, with the rack being of a length, width and height so as to readily be fitted into the drawer atop the various components. Prior to a washing operation, the consumer need simply load items to be washed upon the rack. The drawer is then slid into the cabinet and a washing operation initiated. During the washing operation, a washing fluid is introduced into the drawer through wash arms which spray the washing fluid onto the items arranged on the rack. The water and any entrained soil particles pass through the filters and into the pump inlet, at which point the water, less the soil particles, is redirected back to the wash arms. This process is repeated until the washing operation is complete.
Occasionally during a washing operation, a large food particle will become dislodged and rest upon one of the filters. Also, during loading of the items to be washed, a utensil or other item may fall and pass through the rack, landing onto one of the filters, or simply come to rest on the bottom portion of the drawer. In order to retrieve anything that falls onto the bottom portion of the drawer, the rack must be removed. If there are items on the rack, most, if not all, of the items must be removed prior to lifting the rack from the dishwasher. Unloading and reloading the rack to retrieve a fallen item can be very inconvenient, particularly when the rack is full.
Despite the existence of dishracks in the prior art, there still exists a need for an enhanced dishrack designed for use with a drawer-type dishwasher. More specifically, there exists a need for a dishrack that is formed from multiple pieces so as to conform to a full length and width of a dishwasher drawer as well as provide at least one high wall for supporting tall items such as glassware and to enable a consumer to easily install the dishrack, readily remove a portion of the dishrack and gain access to a bottom portion of a drawer without having to completely unload the dishrack.